Canada

Montreal health authorities now say 53 deaths in the city may be attributable to a heat wave earlier this month.

The new number could mean as many as 89 Quebecers died as a result of heat-related complications between June 30 and July 7.

On July 9, a spokesperson with the Quebec Health Department said up to 70 people across the province may have died because of the sweltering temperatures that smothered much of Central and Eastern Canada.

That number included 34 people in Montreal.

Those who died in Montreal were mostly elderly men who lived alone as well as people with cardiovascular or breathing problems.

In Ontario, chief coroner Dirk Huyer said July 10 that three deaths in the province may have been related to heat.

Ontario's chief medical officer of health, Dr. David Williams, said heat-related data are collected in that province's heat warning and information system report but added that document does not collect statistics on deaths.